The Woman In The Shop
by Evanescencefan97
Summary: In Clara and the Doctor's phone call during 'The Bells Of Saint John', Clara mentions something about a woman who gave her the TARDIS' phone number, claiming that it is 'the best helpline out there, in the universe'. The Doctor is confused about who exactly gave Clara the number, so he decides to start an investigation of his own. AU. Set slightly after 'The Bells Of Saint John'.
1. Chapter 1: The Woman In The Shop

**A/N: Hi everyone! This came very quickly as an idea for me, so I decided to write it while the idea was still in my head. It's a Doctor Who story based on something I read on Twitter relating to Clara and Rose. Hope you enjoy! Set before 'The Bells Of Saint John'. The speech in **_**italics **_**is directly from the episode, and is the phone call between Clara and the Doctor at the beginning of the episode. I highly recommend that you watch this episode if you haven't yet, otherwise the story will make absolutely no sense to you.  
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO. IT IS THE PROPERTY OF THE BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION AND STEVEN MOFFAT.  
Listening to: Chasing The Dragon by Epica **

The Doctor and Clara's first adventure had just finished. But he had questions in his mind still about Clara, and so recalled his first conversation with that particular version of Clara.

_The Doctor had never been more shocked in all his years, and his two hearts had never pounded more frantically when he heard the TARDIS phone ring. He had been in Cumbria, in the year 1207, trying to figure out who the mysterious woman who he had now seen as a Victorian and a Dalek really was when he was interrupted. He took a horse and rode to the sound of the ringing telephone, with the monks following. As soon as he reached the TARDIS, he gestured to the phone, and hesitantly picked the phone and began to speak.  
"Hello?" he asked.  
"Ah, hello," a woman replied. "I can't find the internet."  
"I'm sorry?" He replied.  
"It's gone, the internet. Can't find it anywhere. Where is it?" she asked.  
"The internet?"  
"Yes, the internet. Why don't I have the internet?"  
The Doctor walked away from the TARDIS, phone in hand and the telephone line trailing behind him.  
"It's 1207!"  
"I've got 3:30. Am I phoning a different time zone?  
"Yeah, you really sort of are."  
"Will it show up on the bill?"  
"Oh, I dread to think. Listen, where did you get this number?"  
"Woman in the shop wrote it down. It's a helpline, isn't it? She said it was the best helpline out there. In the universe, she said."  
"What woman? Who was she?"  
"I don't know. The woman in the shop."_

Now he thought about the conversation more, the Doctor found that he was becoming more and more confused about something that Clara had said during their long telephone conversation. '_Woman in the shop_.'  
In the Doctor's eyes, this could mean three people: Rose Tyler, Martha Jones or Sally Sparrow.

A few weeks later, and the Doctor had been given the address of the shop, and was ready to go to the shop as soon as he could. Before he could leave however, Clara asked him where he was going. "Just off to the shops. I'll be back before you know it." He replied.  
"Yeah, I bet you will," Clara smiled, glancing at the TARDIS.  
"Hey! I'm just gonna walk there!" the Doctor said defensively. Clara laughed and shook her head. As she heard the sound of the TARDIS whooshing, (the Doctor kept leaving the brakes again), she said to herself, 'I bet he won the Lazy Olympics as well as the Anti-Grav Olympics', and headed back upstairs to look at '_101 Places To See'._

Meanwhile, the Doctor had just parked the TARDIS in a side road, picked up the keys, and left, heading for a bookstore. When he reached the little shop, he looked at a sign which simply read 'Open', and walked in. It was strangely silent, and the only noise there was seemed to be coming from the rustling of the pages in the books. The Doctor was quick to check his surroundings- he hadn't had a good experience the last time he was around books. In fact, the last time he was around books, someone had _died_. Therefore, the Doctor felt that he had every right to be cautious. The Gallifreyan didn't have much time to reflect, a voice broke the silence quite quickly.  
"Hello, can I help you in any way?"  
It was a female's voice, and the Doctor was sure, no, absolutely certain, that he knew that voice from somewhere. And when he turned around, he couldn't believe who was standing right in front of him. He dropped the TARDIS keys, surprised, and spoke the female's name in utter disbelief.

**A/N: Thank you for reading! I'll let you decide who the woman is for yourselves. That is, unless you want more chapters. Please review to tell me if you like it or not, and also to tell me whether to keep this as one chapter, or do a multi-chapter story. Once again, thank you and I'll see you soon!**


	2. Chapter 2: Bad Wolf Returns

'_He dropped the TARDIS keys, surprised, and spoke the female's name in utter disbelief.'  
…_

"Rose Tyler," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. The blonde looked at him in confusion.  
"What did you say?" she asked.  
"I said 'Rose Tyler'. That's your name, isn't it?" the Doctor asked.  
"Well, yeah. Of course it is. But how did you know that?" Rose asked back.  
"Because I know you. We were friends, and the last time we met, I said to you 'Rose Tyler'..." He trailed off as Rose gave him a weird look.  
"I had a strange friend once. Strange, but he had great hair. Really great hair. We went to see all these amazing things together and then… and then we lost each other," Tears were welling up in Rose's eyes as she spoke.  
"And my boyfriend, he looked exactly like him. Well he's not my boyfriend anymore. He's my husband. Married him 3 years ago, and now we have a child. Named her Donna, after a friend of mine."

The Doctor stared at the floor. His usually bright personality was dimmed as he thought about the child's namesake. Donna Noble- the woman who forgot him. She was married now, and maybe she even had children of her own. Martha Jones- the woman he rejected. Judging by the last time he saw her, she was happily married to Mickey and working at Torchwood. Captain Jack Harkness- his torture and Ianto's death had broken him the last time they had met. The Doctor couldn't bear to think about the girl who waited and the last Centurion. That memory was too painful. And what of Clara Oswald- the impossible girl? She would remain impossible for now.

"Is everything alright?" Rose's voice shattered through the fragile glass of the Doctor's memories.  
"That man," the Doctor began. "With the great hair. What was he like?"  
Rose looked shocked that he'd asked.  
"Ummm, he was brave, and we were great friends, and he was smart, impossibly so. He saved my life when we meet and we couldn't even say goodbye properly."  
At this point, the tears spilt from Rose's eyes.  
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. It's just, I miss him so much."

The Doctor looked at Rose in shock. He hadn't expected her to be quite that upset about losing him. After all, he had kind of dealt with it. He had never forgotten it- and how could he? He realised that perhaps the reason that he had managed to stay composed was that he was used to losing people. Amy and Rory, Donna, Martha, Mickey, Oswin and Jack soon came to mind when he thought of people he had lost. And as he looked at Rose, the Doctor made a decision that he should visit everyone he had EVER travelled with and personally apologise to them.

**A/N: And that is where I leave you for this chapter. The Doctor WILL be visiting his companions, and not just those from the revived series! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! What do you guys think of Peter Capaldi being the next Doctor? I personally think he's going to be great- he's got an Oscar and two BAFTA's already, I'm really looking forward to seeing how he portrays the Doctor. I'm watching the Doctor Who Proms at the moment and it's amazing! I go back to school next Wednesday, but I'm planning to update before then. (I was overwhelmed by your responses to the story, so thank you so much for that!) Until next time! **


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